ReviewSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2009
Physical activity and preterm birth: a literature review.
Review in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of different physical activity interventions on perinatal depression: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Non-occupational physical activity during pregnancy and the risk of preterm birth: a meta-analysis of observational and interventional studies.Scientific reports · 2017Pooled it
- Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Pregnancy and Maternal-Child Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials and Cohort Studies.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2017Pooled it
- Physically demanding work and preterm delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2014Pooled it
- Major, non-chromosomal, birth defects and maternal physical activity: a systematic review.Birth defects research. Part A, Clinical and molecular teratology · 2012Pooled it
- Placental ABCA1 Expression Is Increased in Spontaneous Preterm Deliveries Compared with Iatrogenic Preterm Deliveries and Term Deliveries.BioMed research international · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Is intensive counseling in maternity care feasible and effective in promoting physical activity among women at risk for gestational diabetes? Secondary analysis of a cluster randomized NELLI study in Finland.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2012Trial
- Determinants of Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Ibadan, Nigeria: The influence of maternal lifestyle.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Social distancing and extremely preterm births in the initial COVID-19 pandemic period.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2024Article
- Can we hit prenatal depression and anxiety through HIIT? The effectiveness of online high intensity interval training in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomized controlled trial.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Maternal Physical Activity at Term and Spontaneous Labor: A Case-Crossover Study.Journal of physical activity & health · 2022Article
- Leisure-time physical activity in Amazonian pregnant women and offspring birth weight: A prospective cohort study.PloS one · 2022Article
- Preterm birth and its associated factors among reproductive aged women in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from the recent demographic and health surveys of sub-Sharan African countries.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Correlates of accelerometer-assessed physical activity in pregnancy-The 2015 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2018Article
- Induction of the apoptotic pathway by oxidative stress in spontaneous preterm birth: Single nucleotide polymorphisms, maternal lifestyle factors and health status.Biomedical reports · 2018Article
- Physical activity during pregnancy: predictors of change, perceived support and barriers among women at increased risk of gestational diabetes.Maternal and child health journal · 2014Article
- Physical activity during pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopment and IQ in the first 4 years of life.PloS one · 2014Article
- Association between preterm delivery and pre-pregnancy body mass (BMI), exercise and sleep during pregnancy among working women in Southern California.Maternal and child health journal · 2013Article
- Lack of evidence for prescription of antepartum bed rest.Expert review of obstetrics & gynecology · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Preterm birth is a major reason for infant mortality and morbidity, representing a public health concern worldwide. Regular and voluntary physical activity is healthy behaviour that should be incorporated by everyone, including pregnant women. On the other hand, some women are exposed to highly demanding occupational physical activities during pregnancy that might represent a threat to the fetus and to their own health. This paper is a literature review of studies (1987-2007) on physical activity during pregnancy and its relationship to preterm birth. Although the effects measured by the studies are not strong and the evidence is impaired by many methodological flaws, it seems that recreational or leisure-time physical activities performed regularly provide protection against prematurity. Studies on occupational physical activities, especially standing for long periods, present contrasting results - some presenting standing as a risk factor, but most showing no association. Housework and other daily activities do not seem to be associated with preterm birth. Regardless of the methodological aspects of the studies reviewed, there is a chance that the real effect of occupational physical activity is being blurred by some underlying factors not easily measured in epidemiological investigations. Our conclusions do not reject the idea that working conditions might represent danger for the pregnancy outcome, but only raise the question that maybe the mechanisms through which employment-related physical activities have been considered up till now could be better and more thoroughly studied. Future studies should pay additional attention to psychological and socioeconomic characteristics, without neglecting biological plausibility.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.